I’ve consistently donated money to just one charity for the past decade, the Fisher House Foundation, which builds a “home away from home” for families of U.S. service members receiving long-term care at military hospitals and Veterans Administration centers. This is the perfect salve for cash-strapped next of kin who want to post a bedside vigil for a loved one who returned from Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere will grievous wounds. There are Fisher Houses across the country, from the Naval Hospital in San Diego to Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

The foundation doesn’t spend much on executive compensation or organizational expenses, unlike other nonprofits that have been excoriated for excessive overhead.(CharityWatch.org analyzes these very boring things to help dumbasses like me make informed decisions about charitable giving; click here for the top-rated charities for veterans and the military). Chairman, who like “Breaking Bad’s” Heisenberg doesn’t part with his hard-embezzled money easily, gives Fisher House two thumbs-up, if you’re wondering.

You know, family members of fallen warriors who have drifted off the front pages, people such as 1LT Jennifer Moreno, SGT Patrick Hawkins, SGT Joseph Peters and PFC Cody Patterson, who were killed in an IED attack on Oct. 6 in Zhari, Afghanistan. While policy analysts with Ph.Ds complained about being furloughed (although they’re guaranteed back pay when the shutdown ends) and cubicle dwellers picketed Capitol Hill, these soldiers’ next-of-kin faced the daunting prospect of 1) burying their loved one and 2) paying for hefty funeral expenses on their own.

The infuriating thing is that this boils down to simple communication. If just one guy stops behaving like an automaton for a moment, exhibits a modicum of humanity, and just makes an extra phone call, we could avoid good-faith mistakes that snowball into a national embarrassment.